Newsroom

TORONTO, April 22, 2008 – Ontario nurses say children’s health will be better protected thanks to today’s announcement that the McGuinty government is introducing legislation to ban
the sale and cosmetic use of pesticides.

“The Premier is to be congratulated for heeding the call of health and
environmental organizations. Pesticides are poisonous and governments have
a duty to protect citizens, especially children,” says Wendy Fucile,
President of the Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario (RNAO).

RNAO is among a group of organizations that has been calling on the government
to set a new provincial standard banning the display, sale and use of cosmetic
pesticides.

The association says it is pleased that the premier announced, in no uncertain
terms, that municipalities can go beyond the provincial law and enact more
stringent provisions in their by-laws governing the use of pesticides, adds
Fucile.

Although numerous details are yet to be determined before the new law takes
effect in 2009, “if Ontario develops strong regulations, the province
would be amongst the most progressive jurisdictions in North America,” says
Doris Grinspun, RNAO’s Executive Director.

“We would have preferred an “inclusion list,” which would
list non-toxic products that can be used rather than a list of banned substances
and ingredients,” states Grinspun, adding that “until industry
is convinced that these products are dangerous and worthy of an outright ban,
companies may simply continue to develop new ones.”

The Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario (RNAO) is the professional
association representing registered nurses wherever they practise in Ontario.
Since 1925, RNAO has lobbied for healthy public policy, promoted excellence
in nursing practice, increased nurses’ contribution to shaping the health-care
system, and influenced decisions that affect nurses and the public they serve.